Update for trial mining at Peranggih Gold Prospect
Published by John Williams,
Editorial Assistant
Global Mining Review,
Monument Mining Ltd has announced that a trial mining programme will commence in October 2019 at Peranggih Gold Prospect.
The bulk sample material will be fed into the existing Selinsing oxide gold processing plant to confirm the average grade of the close-spaced drilled area, to quantify the presence of coarse gold and to test the metallurgical performance at plant scale.
Preparation work for trial mining commenced on August 15, 2019, primarily to establish access roads from Peranggih mining site to Selinsing production site. This work included obtaining permits to use 1.5 km of public road and 10km of private roads from stakeholders, completing access road construction and site clearance.
Figure 1.
Access road preparation
The Peranggih access road will pass through an existing upgraded track in the federal land consolidated and rehabilitation agent (FELCRA) plantation, a forestry area, the public road, as well as several private landholders’ properties (Figure 1).
Monument reached an agreement regarding the road construction and assessment with all stakeholders including Felcra, the Forestry Department and the Public Works Department of Pahang State, and private landholders. The public infrastructure already established by the government includes two major bridges across Telom and Jelai Kecil Rivers that will be utilised for the haulage. A security deposit of US$60 000 will be placed with the authority as the assurance for compliance.
A public engagement meeting was held by the company for the local community and villagers to hear the trial mining decision. The potential environment impact of full-scale mining activities, such as dust caused by traffic movement and erosion and sedimentation that might occur during the mining operations was discussed; and the safety and environmental risk control system were introduced at the meeting. The company has assured the local community that any adverse impact on the surrounding environment will be mitigated according to industry standards. The high environmental standards which have been implemented at the Selinsing Gold Mine will be applied to all of its operations.
The construction of the haulage road involves the placement of road base material on the existing track, upgrading the culvert crossings, as well as grading the road surface. The total road upgrading costs are estimated to be up to US$150 000. It is expected to be completed by the end of September 2019.
Figure 2.
Trial mining
Trial mining will take one month to complete, including mining and feeding into the mill up to 15 000 t of initial bulk samples, allowing the company to obtain a more reliable estimate of gold grades at Peranggih, and allowing a comparison with the grade control and exploration drilling.
The initial bulk samples will be selected from the exposed mineralisation in the historic mining area at Central Peranggih, where a 5 x 5 m close spaced RAB drilling programme was completed in 28 November 2017. The drill programme successfully delineated a zone of higher grade gold material at Peranggih Central by testing an area of 150 m strike length by 80 m width and 20 m depth, known to contain a significant amount of coarse gold in a hydrothermal breccia system. The old site in Central Peranggih is bounded to the North and South by abandoned mining ponds yet to be tested for mineralisation by drilling.
The Pahang State Mineral and Geoscience Department has given approval to proceed with the bulk sampling programme. Previous mining activities in the early nineties were carried out by local miners who left behind several small mining ponds and a minor amount of tailings and historical ore stockpiles (Figure 2). The mining lease was granted at Peranggih, and it has been registered on 15th March 2019 and valid for 10 years till 14th March 2029. The bulk sample is expected to be free digging and composed of oxide material. The gold mineralisation is hosted in both matrix supported and clast-supported quartz breccia. Significant coarse free gold has been observed hosted in the breccia matrix. The matrix is friable and composed of clay minerals and small rock fragments, as well as a combination of ore and gangue minerals. The gold mineralisation is thought to be associated with hydraulic fracturing and associated boiling due to pressure release.
Exploration programme
Depending on the outcome of the trial mining/bulk sampling programme, a follow up exploration programme may be designed to test adjacent areas (such as the North Pond), and areas within the district with similar occurrences of brecciated material.
During 2019 structural targets related to shear structures have been developed within the Peranggih region. A wide spaced 100 x 50 m soil sampling programme (Figure 3) has been completed in the third quarter to test the extension of the northwest trending structure that hosts the Peranggih mineralisation. Samples have been sent to Intertek, Perth and results are expected to be received in late September 2019.
Figure 3.
Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/19092019/update-for-trial-mining-at-peranggih-gold-prospect/
You might also like
The misleading prices of rare earths
Ramon Barua, CEO, Aclara Resources, examines the disconnect between rare earths’ critical role and its current market reality, and how it poses significant challenges for the future of energy and technological advancements to meet climate goals.